SAQUAREMA, Brazil, April 13, 2025.- Americans Kristen Nuss an Taryn Brasher won the silver medal of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Elite event in Saquarema, Brazil, after falling in Sundays’ final to Brazilians Thamela Coradello and Victoria Lopes 1-2 (19, 21, 21-16, 10-15).
Watch the Beach Pro Tour Saquarema Elite replays onVBTV
By finishing second in Saquarema, Nuss and Brasher made their sixth-straight podium appearance on the Beach Pro Tour – they won three golds, two silvers and one bronze in the period.
The top team in the FIVB World Ranking, Germans Müller and Tillmann won their first medal in the season by taking third in Saquarema. The Europeans had a dominant performance in the bronze medal match, topping Americans Kelly Cheng and Molly Shaw 2-0 (21-16, 21-16).
The Beach Pro Tour will continue in Brazil for another week, with the country’s capital, Brasília, welcoming the third Elite event of the season from April 16-20.
QUINTANA ROO, Mexico, March 30, 2025.- Noslen Diaz and Jorge Alayo were first acknowledged as a top team in international beach volleyball after they dominated local tournaments held in the NORCECA region. Their first major victory on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour couldn’t, then, happen anywhere else in the world and so it was on Sunday, when the Cuban Olympians took gold in the Elite event held in Quintana Roo, Mexico.
With the vast support of the home fans, Diaz and Alayo emerged as the top team of the first Elite event of 2025 after beating the Argentinean Capogrosso brothers Nicolas and Tomas in the gold medal match at Playa del Carmen. American qualifiers Chaim Schalk and James Shaw completed the podium in Mexico and took bronze.
Watch the Beach Pro Tour Quintana Roo Elite matches on demand on VBTV
Diaz, 22, and Alayo, 23, completed an undefeated campaign that saw them beat seven different teams in Mexico, including reigning world champions Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner of Czechia, while dropping just one set with a 2-0 (21-13, 24-22) victory over the Capogrosso brothers on Sunday’s gold medal match.
DIAZ Y ALAYO CUBA
“We feel at home here in Mexico,” Diaz remarked. “The Mexicans are very supportive of us, and I got to meet many Cubans who were cheering on us as well this week. I hope they all enjoyed this incredible event.”
Competing regularly on the Beach Pro Tour since 2023, the Paris 2024 Olympians had been in Beach Pro Tour finals three times before, all of them in Challenge events, but were yet to win gold. Heading to Quintana Roo, the two, who also took silver at the 2023 Pan-American Games, had achieved their best result at the Elite level in Mexico, where they took bronze in Tepic last year.
“It’s our first gold medal in an Elite event and I’m very grateful that it happened here in Mexico,” Alayo reacted. “The fans were amazing, I want to thank them, my coach and my partner for this victory.”
Their opponents in Sunday’s gold medal match, Nicolas and Tomas Caprogrosso were also pursuing their first gold medals in a Beach Pro Tour Elite event. They had, however, to settle for silver for a second straight time after finishing second also at the tournament held in Rio de Janeiro last November.
The third team to step on the podium in Quintana Roo, Americans Schalk and Shaw secured their first medal as partners in their fifth event sharing the same side of the court. The two started this week’s event in the qualifier and secured five wins in seven matches, the most notable of them against reigning Olympic champions David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig of Sweden in the quarterfinals.
On Sunday, they rewarded their excellent week with a piece of silverware after prevailing over the new Dutch team of Alexander Brouwer and Steven van de Velde 2-0 (21-19, 21-16) in the bronze medal match.
After a one-week break, the Beach Pro Tour will return with another Elite event in Saquarema, Brazil, from April 9-13.
QUINTANA ROO, Mexico, March 30, 2025.- Americans Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft captured the silver medal at the first Elite event of the 2025 Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour which came to an end on Sunday in Quintana Roo Mexico, while Kristen Nuss and Taryn (Kloth) Brasher, also representing the United States, won the bronze medal.
Watch the Beach Pro Tour Quintana Roo Elite matches on demand on VBTV
In the gold medal match, Cannon and Kraft fell 0-2 (13-21, 17-21) against Brazilians Carol and Rebecca, who competed as partners for the first time at the international level.
Cannon and Kraft have a lot to take from the Quintana Roo event as they managed to continue in great form and extend their streak of podium appearance in Elite events on the Beach Pro Tour to five – they won four silver and one bronze medals in the period.
After taking three teams to the semifinals, the United States got to have two of them on the podium on Sunday. The top-seeded duo in the event, Nuss and Brasher claimed the last available spot with a 2-0 (21-16, 21-14) victory over compatriots Kelly Cheng and Molly Shaw on Sunday’s bronze medal match.
It was the 14th medal won by the Paris Olympians since they started competing internationally in 2022. Nuss and Brasher now have eight gold, three silver and three bronze medals, with ten of those coming in Elite events.
After a one-week break, the Beach Pro Tour will return with another Elite event in Saquarema, Brazil, from April 9-13.
QUINTANA ROO, Mexico, March 29, 2025.- Led by Americans Chaim Schalk and James Shaw, who eliminated reigning Olympic champions David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig of Sweden in just their sixth tournament as partners, teams from four different countries advanced to the men’s semifinals of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Elite event held in Quintana Roo, Mexico, on Saturday.
Sunday, the last day of action of the first Elite tournament of the 2025 season, will start at the Playa del Carmen with the semifinals, which will have the Americans facing the Argentinean Capogrosso brothers Nicolas and Tomas at 11:00 local time (16:00 GMT) and Cubans Noslen Diaz and Jorge Alayo meeting the new Dutch team of Alexander Brouwer and Steven van de Velde one hour later. The gold medal match is scheduled for 16:00 local time (21:00 GMT), with the dispute for bronze starting one hour earlier.
Watch the Beach Pro Tour Quintana Roo Elite live on VBTV
Schalk, 38, and Shaw, 31, produced arguably the most shocking result of the still young Beach Pro Tour season so far in the quarterfinals, when the Americans, who started the tournament in the qualifier, took down Åhman and Hellvig in the tie-breaker (21-19, 13-21, 15-8) to secure their first semifinal appearances as partners. With the upset, the Swedes will miss the podium for just the second time in their last 13 Beach Pro Tour events.
The Americans will now face the Capogrossos for a second-straight day after falling to the South Americans in straight sets (21-17, 22-20) in the Round of 12 earlier on Saturday – Schalk and Shaw still advanced despite the defeat as one of the two best losing sides.
The American victory wasn’t, however, the only upset in the quarterfinal round in Quintana Roo. One hour earlier, Cuban Olympians Diaz and Alayo had stunned reigning world champions Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner of Czechia, knocking them out with a 2-1 (16-21, 21-14, 15-11) victory in Mexico.
Earlier, in the Round of 12, the Caribbean had gotten the better of Norwegians Hendrik Mol and Mathias Berntsen, winning in two sets (21-18, 21-17).
QUINTANA ROO, Mexico, March 29, 2025.- Beach volleyball powerhouse the United States will fight for gold in the first Elite event of the 2025 Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour season on Sunday in Quintana Roo, Mexico, against Brazil.
The last two teams standing in the event held at Playa del Carmen, USA’s Terese Cannon/Megan Kraft and Brazil’s Carol Salgado/Rebecca Cavalcanti will duel in the gold medal match at 14:00 local time (19:00 GMT). A second American team is guaranteed to step on the podium as Kristen Nuss/Taryn Brasher and Kelly Cheng/Molly Shaw will compete in the bronze medal match one hour earlier.
Watch the Beach Pro Tour Quintana Roo Elite live on VBTV
Cannon and Kraft path to the gold medal match on Saturday, started the day with a 2-1 (21-15, 18-21, 15-9) victory over FIVB World Ranking leaders Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann of Germany in the quarterfinals and getting a clean sweep (21-18, 21-19) against Cheng and Shaw in the semifinals a few hours later.
The Americans got a second chance in the tournament after losing to Cheng and Shaw on Friday, in the Round of 12, as they still advanced to the quarterfinals as one of the two best losing sides.
“The new format is interesting,” Kraft remarked. “We had to bounce back as quickly as we could. They’re a really good team and we knew they would give us a good game. We were happy to get a second life in the tournament and just tried to make the most of it.”
Partners since 2023, the Americans have been in great form since the 2024 season and will, in Mexico, get into the podium for a fifth-straight Elite tournament on the Beach Pro Tour. The two, however, are yet to win gold at the international level.
Brazilians Carol and Rebeca, in their second Beach Pro Tour event as partners (and the first at the Elite level), needed the tie-breaker (18-21, 21-13, 15-10) to eliminate the Austrian Klinger sisters Dorina and Klinger in the quarterfinals before sweeping (21-17, 21-11) the top-seeded Nuss and Brasher in the semifinals.
YUCATÁN, México, March 23, 2025.- USA’s Devon Newberry and Jaden Whitmarsh won the bronze medal at the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Yucatan Challenge that took place in Puerto Progreso from March 19-23.
Devon Newberry and Jaden Whitmarsh, in three Beach Pro Tour appearances as a team, the 24-year-old Americans have already collected three medals. In December, they took bronze at the Pompano Beach Futures and, earlier this month, they topped the podium at the Mount Maunganui Futures. The event in Yucatan was the duo’s first Challenge tournament. They started from the qualifiers and were seeded 31st in the 32-team main draw. After winning seven of their nine matches in Puerto Progreso, Newberry & Whitmarsh earned the bronze medal.
The all-American third-place match between Newberry & Whitmarsh and 12th-seeded Teegan Van Gunst & Kimberly Hildreth was resolved deep in the overtime of the tie-breaker. In the first set, Van Gunst & Hildreth came back from a four-point opponent lead to win it by a four-point margin. Newberry & Whitmarsh dominated the second set to level the match. The lead in the tie-breaker went back and forth a few times and the set was pushed way beyond the 15th point. After denying two opponent match points and failing to convert three of their own, Newberry & Whitmarsh finally closed it off at 2-1 (17-21, 21-15, 20-18). Newberry and Van Gunst shared the top scorer honors of the match with 23 points each.
Italy’s Valentina Gottardi & Claudia Scampoli won the gold medal in their first Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour appearance as a team beating Tanja Huberli and Leona Kernen of Switzerland, who also made their Beach Pro Tour debut as a team, 2-0 (21-17, 21-15).
WOMEN: 3. Newberry / Whitmarsh USA 4. Kim Hildreth/Teegan Van Gunst USA 8. Toni/DeBerg USA 14. Torres/ Gutierrez MEX 15. Anderson/Bauer USA 16. Scoles/Denaburg USA 24. Shields/Hodel USA 29. Vidaurrazaga /Ramirez MEX 30. Harward/Phillips USA 31. Quiggle/Loreen USA 32. Savvy/Van Winkle USA 40. Kan/Sours USA 41. Ozee/Glagau CAN 42. Roskic/Corah CAN 49. Poppinga/Lindstrom USA 50. Slabakova/Griffin USA
MEN: 6. Diaz/Alayo CUB 16. Evans/Budinger USA 19. Schachter/Pickett CAN 24. Schalk/Shaw USA 31. Bourne/Cory USA 32. Brewster/Ierna USA 39. Crabb Tr./Caldwell USA 40. Hoppe/Bradford USA 46. D. Dyner/Varela CRC 51. Lares/Carlos Andres MEX 55. Kwekel/Drost USA 56. Smith/Webber USA
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